Music Options for Pre-Gold Pattern Dance: Starlight Waltz

[LunarSkater]

So my partner and I have finally decided to compete Pattern Dance this year. Given his recently broken shoulder and my injured back, we're not sure how long it will take for us to be up and running with Pairs. We're going to train and try, but I just don't want to push things.

So Pre-Gold Pattern Dance.

We know what we want for our Tango (and several other skaters are really excited about it), just have to edit it to correct BPM. The piece is a ballroom tango, but is actually 5 beats faster than skate pattern timing.

That brings us to the Starlight. The Starlight of the much-loathed Sleepy Beauty Waltz. I spent nine years working for a mouse; I cringe every time I hear it. And the rest of the standard set, although better, is still very bleh. I wanted to skate to a cover of 'I Put a Spell on You' but literally every single coach (and the judge) that was consulted were ... it's too Bluesy. They are absolutely correct. But aside from that, it was perfect. 174 BPM, strong beats, I had a story halfway choreographed. But no.

Now I need help. Please.  I'm having very little luck finding anything. I need a strong beat to handle my rink's sound system and to cut through the general noise of skating. What songs are out there to 3/4 and 174 BPM that aren't horrible?

[supersharp]

Sometimes the coaches come up with some good surprise options—I was expecting to use one of the old classics but my coach/prop had a better idea. My testing music for the Starlight is Norwegian Wood (original Beatles version).  I like how calming it is, deceptively smooth so I don’t get that panicky feeling about it sounding too fast to keep up with.   Might not be exciting enough for competition, but maybe it will help you think of other pieces that could work.

Good luck competing, I hope it goes well!

[supersharp]

I have to add that we did used “I Put a Spell on You” for our first two free dance tests.  Too bad it is too bluesy for the Starlight (it truly is) because it’s great music to skate to with that 6:8 timing. You need something similar but more lilting. 

[LunarSkater]

Thanks, Supersharp!

[alejeather]

Waltzes are so hard to find new music for, because while you can find playlists by bpm on the internet, I've yet to find a reliable source to find ones in waltz tempo. You may look to other classical selections and find something similar to standard ISU music but that feels a bit fresher.

The first song that came to my mind was Better Than Fine by Fiona Apple. I think it's a bit slow for Starlight, but I'm not sure how much. And I think this one's too fast, but What If I by Meghan Trainor is also a waltz.

Good luck!

[Query]

The best known performances of "I put a spell on you", like from Screaming Jay Hawkins, Disney ("Hocus Pokus"), sound like they are in 6/8, with accents on 1 and 4? 6/8 or 4/4 also matches at least the beginnings of available sheet music.

Not exactly classic romantic waltz dance beat.

I guess the hardest part of finding music for ice dance is that very few performances of popular music keep the very constant bpm, that judges might expect? Terrible shame if they marked you down for that.

Unfortunately, that even rhythm is exactly what makes official ice dance music sound so boring to me - though some performances of that music at least have a stronger beat than others. Maybe you could pay musicians to orchestrate the classic tune to sound a bit more unusual, and add a little more dynamic range, and be interesting those ways, despite the even beat? But maybe you'd still want to orchestrate it to match what was available in waltz dance bands when Starlight was composed, to be more authentic.

Some of the music sold to accompany Ballroom dance is even. But be sure you check it against a metronome to be sure.

[alejeather]

I found a site for ballroom. It's in German, but I was able to at least get waltz tempo results by bpm and then find songs on spotify to sample. Some are very midi sounding, others are older songs, but some are more modern. You could explore and see if you find anything that suits your criteria.

Here's a link specifically to a search for "Vienna Waltzes" between 178 and 180bpm.
 http://www.swing-ballroom.de/index.php?option=com_dancedb&SDance=Wiener+Walzer&sinterpret=*&sname=*&BPMMin=178&BPMMax=180

[Query]

Oops. I think I made an error, when I talked about original plausible instrumentation for dance bands. If Starlight Waltz refers to C. S. Brainard's composition,

https://archive.org/details/CSM_00261/mode/2up?view=theater

I guess it was for piano - though I'm not sure - I've found arrangements for other instruments, like guitar and for bands.

The acoustics of most ice rinks, which have strong echoes, make an uneven tempo extra-easy to detect. In particular, you would hear the delay time between the original sound, and the echoes, change over time.

I've never understood why the ice dance  community decided even tempos were desirable. Popular dance of virtually any style has always emphasized even tempos, with strong beats, because it makes it easy for relatively untrained dancers to stay with the beat. But high end ice dance is substantially beyond that level.

(I would have suggested aerobics music too, because they too want strong even beats - except for some reason that is almost always 4/4.)

I honestly don't know whether the public performance fees for most ballroom music recordings are covered by whatever arrangements USFSA and other skating organizations have made. You should do your own research. I'm in no way an expert. It was just a suggestion. The coaches here would no much better than me.

[LunarSkater]

Thank you for the suggestions, everyone! Much appreciated!